CAST NAND Flash Controller Supports Latest High-Speed Memories and is Ready for ONFI 3

Woodcliff Lake, NJ, November 15, 2011 — Semiconductor intellectual property (IP) provider CAST, Inc. is now shipping an improved, sixth-generation version of its successful NAND Flash Memory Controller IP core.

The CAST NANDFLASH-CTRL Core gains support for the latest high-speed memory devices:

• Toggle-Mode Double Density Rate (DDR) devices from Toshiba and Samsung, and
• ClearNAND™ integrated memory and error correction devices from Micron, with support for the EZ-NAND ONFI 2.3 protocol.

The core is also designed to satisfy the Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) 3.0 specification—which targets speeds of 400 MT/s—and is currently being hardware verified with advanced production ONFI 3.0 compatible memory devices.

The core continues to be one of the best available NAND Flash controllers, implementing most critical functions in hardware (including error correction, bad block management and encryption), supporting high-speed data transfer, and providing configurable options that enable the smallest area, least power consumption, and lowest price for each specific memory application.

David Chen, principal engineer at DRS Signal Solutions, Inc., said recently: “I selected the CAST NANDFlash Controller for it's functionality, support for ClearNAND Flash and ONFI standards, and backing by a well established company that is a Certified member of the Xilinx Alliance program.”

Sourced from the memory experts at long-time CAST partner Evatronix S.A., the royalty-free controller core is available in synthesizable RTL for ASICs or optimized netlists for FPGAs. Versions range from a lean, asynchronous-only core ideal for long-term or boot-code storage applications through a full-featured, high-speed core for applications needing the full bandwidth of the latest memory devices. Integration is simplified by interfaces to standard system buses AMBA® AHB and AXI, Avalon, CoreConnect PLB, and OCP.

NAND Flash Application Webinar

Using the new NAND Flash Controller Core is part of an overall design strategy to achieve the highest possible memory data input and output rates for advanced applications. CAST and Evatronix will host a webinar on this topic November 30, 2011. Those interested should please register in advance.

The NAND Flash Controller improvements are part of CAST’s continuing, 18-year-long commitment to provide the best IP products—and the best experiences using them—available anywhere. Learn more by calling +1 201.391.8300 or visiting www.cast-inc.com.

About CAST, Inc.

CAST, Inc. is a privately held company that provides semiconductor IP products and services. The company was established in 1993, works with developers and representatives around the world, and serves about 700 different customers. The diverse, proven CAST product line features 32-bit processors and 8-bit microcontrollers; advanced image/video compression and processing cores; and the memory controllers, high-speed buses, peripherals, and other functions needed to build complete systems.